The most wonderful time of the year is approaching: Christmas. A time for making gingerbread houses, decorating our Christmas trees, giving gifts with love, watching classic holiday movies, and most importantly remaining loyal to our local businesses during times of need. This year has thrown several curveballs at our community and the world alike with the ongoing pandemic, family and friends disconnected physically, and our downtown businesses doing all in their power to keep our community as lively as it can be. During times of giving, we can give back to our local businesses this holiday season by shopping sustainably and locally. Downtown Ashland offers a variety of goods to be gifted this season while also offering different methods of delivery and curbside pickup to accommodate with the pandemic. Businesses wish to keep you just as safe as themselves. Our small businesses have been working together to create a website that allows you to access several different stores from home to further protect yourself and the community. You can find almost every small business located in Ashland on this website at “shopashlandoregon.com” Here are four of our favorites! 

Paddington Station is one of our many local businesses that offers home goods, clothing, and gifts for everyone alike. They offer a wide variety of goods as well as methods of getting your items to you with minimal to no physical contact. Kelly Jean, AHS alumna and owner at Paddington Station, shares that they are offering free local delivery, curbside pick-up, online access, and shipping anywhere while taking precautions to be careful as possible during the pandemic.  

Treehouse Books offers you to give the gift of reading to younger audiences this holiday season as well as fantasy-like gifts, art sets, miscellaneous items, and a few dress-up items that are all filled with magic. Treehouse Books is offering curbside pick-up that you can call in for as well as an online website that is growing more every day to accommodate with the ongoing times. Jade Drake at Treehouse, an AHS grad who was also previously a Rogue News writer, shared that they are putting out gnome houses in Lithia Park to encourage kids and families to spend time outside while practicing social distancing.  

Bloomsbury Books is another bookstore located in the downtown region of Ashland where you can find books for not only children but a wide variety of audiences from young to old with several different genres to explore from. They are also offering curbside pick-up if you email them with the desired books you wish to purchase providing an easy shopping experience. Olivia West, another former student who was previously a part of Rogue News, from Bloomsbury Books shares, ”We have browsing in the store, but we are limiting it to ten people at a time and trying to sanitize everything. We are making sure everyone is acting in a safe way by wearing masks and all that good stuff.”  

If you are looking for unique gifts with an amazing aroma, Pelindaba Lavendar offers handmade lavender goods crafted at their farms on San Juan Island. Curated collections are often popular during the holiday season despite being sold all year round. Pelindaba Lavender has an accessible website and is offering free local delivery, curbside pick-up, goods shipped directly from their farms, and private appointments that can be scheduled for those who may not want to visit during regular hours. 

It’s extremely important that we support our local businesses this holiday season by taking our shopping to them rather than bigger corporations. Making the time to get Christmas shopping done earlier is beneficial for the community and efficient in that you don’t have to rely on bigger corporations for your gifts to arrive on time. We ought to continue our supportive tendencies by shopping locally and sustainably. Downtown Ashland has remained as dynamic and vibrant as it can be with the community rallied together to keep smaller businesses alive. Shop small and give big this holiday season!